Gratuitous Beatles Blogging

Photo provided by Lacey, touched up by Samantha. Most fans think solemnly back on the day they heard the first Beatle had died as a turning point in their lives. He was such a brilliant entertainer, a beloved icon, a symbol of joy and hope, especially in America — and then he was gone, in [...]

The Beatles kicked off 1968 by making apologies for their 1967 mistake Magical Mystery Tour, then quickly disappeared to India, where they studied transcendental meditation under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Paul and Ringo largely treated the time in Rishikesh as a relaxing vacation — when Ringo wasn’t having fun (and was getting physically ill), he [...]

In Beatles history, 1966 has largely gone down as the year that Beatlemania began to self-destruct. A visit to Japan resulted in protests over the Beatles’ plans to play at Budokan, and exposed how normally screaming crowds had left them unable to skillfully perform their own songs live. A trip to the Philippines inadvertently turned [...]

For the Beatles, 1964 was a huge year. The band managed to star in their first feature film, produce their first album of all original material (and the only one made up entirely of Lennon/McCartneys), and take America by storm — breaking records in television viewing and record sales, selling out concerts in minutes, and [...]